Articles on Google Analytics

Articles on Google Analytics setup, configuration, tracking, and reporting. Advanced setup configurations and advanced topics related web analytics.

Google Analytics Referral Spam Explained in 5 minutes – Infographic

The infographic below is our 5 minute guide to Google Analytics referrer spam. In it we cover what’s the effect of spam on your stats & reports, why does it happen, how exactly does it happen and what are 4 main approaches to dealing with it. The infographic contains descriptions of the two ways referral […] Read more…

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How to Fix Ghost Traffic / Spam Traffic in Google Analytics

Stop Referrer Spam

Since my last posts on how to eliminate Ghost Referrer Spam in Google Analytics & Google Analytics data integrity attacks two things have happened: 1. The number of people complaining about spam referrers / spam events / spam pageviews in webmaster forums and Google Groups have increased exponentially 2. The Google Analytics team noted on their Google Plus […] Read more…

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Payment Gateway Referral Exclusions in Google Analytics

Referral Exclusion List

One of the most frequently visited reports in Analytics is the Source / Medium report. This is a primary reason why it’s targeted by referrer spammers, as we discussed in a recent article. There is, however, a much more trivial, yet common issue with the source / medium report that we see during audits and […] Read more…

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All Your Google Analytics Are Belong To Us

Google Analytics Data Integrity Attacks

In a previous post about referrer spam in Google Analytics I hinted that a much bigger issue might stem from this fairly harmless attack. The problem I present in this article extends to basically all Google Analytics data, for any website out there, no matter how big or small. The problem is how to preserve […] Read more…

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Guide to Removing Referrer Spam in Google Analytics

Stop Referrer Spam

This article deals with the problem of Google Analytics referrer spam (prominent referral spammers are semalt, darodar, buttons-for-website). I explain why and how it actually happens, why currently proposed solutions fail and I describe a working, albeit not perfect solution for the issue. Contents (click to jump to that part): The problem of Google Analytics referrer spam […] Read more…

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Tracking Site Speed with Google Analytics for UX and SEO

Site Speedometer

Given that site speed is a direct factor for AdWords landing pages, a major factor in Usability/UX/Conversion Rate optimization and a direct or undirect (I don’t think there is a consensus on that) factor in SEO, it’s no wonder many specialists nowadays pay close attention to page load times. Why Google Analycis for Site Speed […] Read more…

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Guide to Enhanced E-commerce Tracking in Google Analytics

Ecommerce Tracking - Shopping Cart

What is Enhanced E-commerce Tracking? It’s a significant upgrade of the traditional e-commerce tracking snippet and it comes with a bunch of new reports in the Google Analytics interface. It lets you track checkout funnels, add/remove to cart behaviour, product view to sale funnels, refunds, affiliate and promo codes & coupons and more. We’ll see […] Read more…

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Virtual Pageviews in Google Analytics – Why, How and When to Use Them?

Virtual Pageviews with GTM

In this post I’ll cover what virtual pageivews are, why you should use them, how to implement them and when are they most suitable. Updated Sep 22, 2017: Google Tag Manager instructions included. What is a Virtual Pageview in Google Analytics? First, I’ll start with defining an “Ordinary Pageview”. Well, there is simply no such thing, […] Read more…

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Overview of Books on Conversion Optimization, Web Analytics, SEO & PPC

Books on online A/B testing

This overview is a little different than most overeviews out there. It will focus on three specific basic statistical concepts and would show if and how well they are explored in 18 of the top books on Conversion Optimization, A/B testing, web analytics, SEO & PPC/AdWords. The three concepts this review focuses on are statistical […] Read more…

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Segmenting Data for Web Analytics – The Simpson’s Paradox

The Simpsons Paradox is an interesting issue for everyone dealing with data analysis, including web analytics specialists who deal with data in internet marketing. No matter which field you are in: conversion optimization, search engine optimization, search engine marketing or other, this paradox can give you an interesting insight. The paradox is about proper test design […] Read more…

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Analytics-Toolkit.com Official Launch – Today!

I am happy to announce the official launch of Analytics-Toolkit.com – the toolkit that makes analytics easier. I’m excited to present the results of over 2 years of development because I believe many web analytics specialists, SEO/SEM specialists, and internet marketers will find the tools in the toolkit valuable in their daily work. Most of […] Read more…

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